Develop Awards 2008

Thursday 31st July/... Over 500 professionals from the European games development sector gathered in Brighton for the sixth annual Develop Industry Excellence Awards last night, where some 16 companies from across the UK took home key prizes.

Hosted by comedian Glenn Wool, the event honoured the inspirational teams behind the best games released in the past 12 months.

Rockstar was the clear winner on the night, taking home four individual awards, with its Rockstar North studio grabbing both the visual arts and audio accomplishment prizes for its work on Grand Theft Auto IV and being named best in-house developer.

The WiiWare distribution platform helped two award-winners walk home with prizes: independent studio Frontier Developments' downloadable game LostWinds was named as Best New IP, while the much sought-after publishing hero award was given to Nintendo itself for giving studios the chance to publish their own games.

Other UK independents were out in force as prize winners. Kuju Studios' Doublesix snatched the award for best new UK/European Studio, Ideaworks3D took home the best mobile studio prize, and Splash Damage was named the best independent developer.

The Develop Industry Excellence Awards is Europe’s only awards ceremony dedicated to games developers. The winners are voted for by an independent panel of industry experts and acknowledge the creative achievements across all areas of game development.

In addition, a special Grand Prix Award was bestowed on the company felt by Develop to have contributed the most to games medium during the past year. This was awarded to Rockstar Games, recognising not only the commercial and creative powerhouse Grand Theft Auto IV, but also Rockstar's much-envied studio network which regularly pushes the creative boundaries of gaming.

“This year's 16 different prize-winners prove that despite international pressures games studios across the UK are thriving,” said Michael French, editor, Develop.

"2008's prizes were hotly-contested, reflecting the creative strength of developers across Europe. Our congratulations to all the winners and the other finalists who continue to make games development the most exciting creative industry on the planet."

DEVELOP AWARDS 2008 – THE WINNERS

CREATIVITY

Best New IP:

Lost Winds (Frontier Developments)

Best Use of a Licence:

Lego Indiana Jones (Traveller's Tales)

Visual Arts:

Rockstar North (Grand Theft Auto IV)

Audio Accomplishment:

Rockstar North (Grand Theft Auto IV)

Publishing Hero:

Nintendo

TECHNOLOGY AND SERVICES

Tools Provider

Epic Games

Technical Innovation

NaturalMotion / Image Metrics (Grand Theft Auto IV)

Creative Outsourcing

Richard Jacques Studios

Services

Babel Media

Recruitment Company

OPM

Games:Edu New Talent Award

University of Abertay & Dare to be Digital

STUDIOS

Business Development

Realtime Worlds

Best Mobile Studio

Ideaworks3D

Best In-House Developer

Rockstar North

Best New UK/European Studio

Doublesix

Best Independent Developer

Splash Damage

SPECIAL RECOGNITION

Grand Prix

Rockstar Games

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Ends

Editors notes:

The Develop Industry Excellence Awards 2008

The Develop Industry Excellence Awards were designed to seek excellence in every facet of the UK and European development business, from new start-up studios to multi-team in-house developers, as well as tools providers, service providers and publishers. Judged in secret by a jury of almost 100 independent industry experts they single out those companies who keep this part of the globe at the very forefront of game development.

Develop magazine is the international monthly for games programmers, artists, musicians and producers. It is published by Intent Media.

The Develop Industry Excellence Awards are managed by Intent Media and Barrington Harvey.

For more information, please contact Simon Byron, Barrington Harvey:

simon.byron@bhpr.co.uk / +44 (0)1462 456780

Barrington Harvey PR, Troopers Yard, Bancroft, Hitchin, Herts, SG5 1NW